Our Philosophy, Our Beliefs, Our Ethics

Read our philosophy about the way we practice Criminal Defence Law.

The ABPS Criminal Lawyer Philosophy

No matter how “minor” the criminal charge, to you this is likely one of the most stressful and confusing times in your life. Being charged with a criminal offence – any criminal offence – makes you the target of some very powerful forces all designed to ensure that you are convicted.

With over 70 years of experience – our esteemed criminal lawyers are best equipped to protect your rights.

The police and crown prosecutors have tremendous resources that they will use to the fullest extent to prove your guilt. This holds equally true if you are facing off against the power of the state in any quasi-criminal forum including military tribunals, regulatory matters, inquests and professional discipline hearings.

Hiring a specialized, talented and experienced Toronto criminal lawyer from Adler Bytensky Prutschi Shikhman, is your best defence against everything the state will throw at you. Our criminal defence lawyers will carefully review the strengths and weaknesses of your case. They will give you an honest assessment of the risks and benefits involved in taking your case to trial. They will advise you and make recommendations but they will always leave you in charge of the final decision – after all, you are the one facing the charge, and you must be in control of the process.

When you hire a criminal lawyer from Adler Bytensky Prutschi Shikhman, you will be immediately impressed by their commitment to your case and attention to your needs. Former clients frequently comment that ABPS criminal lawyers are some of the most accessible lawyers they have ever dealt with. Our lawyers make every effort to answer your questions promptly and personally – you will not be shuffled around through layers of staff. When our lawyers are in court, our office staff will respond to your concerns immediately and professionally. If you need to speak to your criminal lawyer directly, he or she will be contacted and will return your call at the first available court recess. After hours and on weekends, our telephone lines are forwarded to personal cellular phones making an ABPS lawyer available to you instantly at any hour of the day or night, seven days a week. If your lawyer happens to miss your call, you can rest assured that your voice mail message will be returned promptly – usually within 2-3 hours, but always within 24 hours.

ABPS certainly knows criminal law. Our lawyers practice almost exclusively in the area of criminal defence law. Five days a week, fifty-two weeks per year, our lawyers are pushing the boundaries of criminal law each and every day in courts all across the province and in the Supreme Court of Canada. We are at the cutting edge of innovative motions and creative advocacy defending the rights of the accused while relying on our extensive knowledge of criminal procedure and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to ensure that every client gets the very best criminal defence available. Our Toronto criminal lawyers have been cited in hundreds of important legal decisions including ones dealing with new areas in impaired driving law, domestic abuse, homicides, and the most recent developments in the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

Our partners are well known as some of the brightest minds in the Toronto legal community. Leo Adler has long been recognized as the leading expert in the use of DNA in criminal proceedings having argued many of the seminal cases in which this technology was utilized. Mr. Adler is also a professor of International Criminal Law at Osgoode Hall Law School and the long-standing coach of Osgoode Hall Law School’s legendary legal mooting team.

Boris Bytensky is the founder and past-President of the Russian-Speaking Lawyers Association and is committed to ensuring quality representation to this historically under-serviced demographic. He is a popular instructor in the Trial Advocacy program at Osgoode Hall Law School and is a board member of the Criminal Lawyers’ Association serving on the executive. Mr. Bytensky’s creativity and encyclopedic knowledge of Criminal statutes and procedure has won him numerous cases that other criminal lawyers – and sometimes even judges – have thought unwinnable.

Edward Prutschi is one of the longest serving and most popular Adjunct Professors in Trial Advocacy at Osgoode Hall Law School and is a regular contributor to Osgoode’s Intensive Programme in Criminal Law. He is a former multiple-term member of the Board of Directors and Executive of the Criminal Lawyers’ Association, and currently represents the organization on numerous committees in the Greater Toronto Area. His legal analysis and commentary frequently appears in radio, television and print media.

Sonya Shikhman’s reputation as one of Toronto’s most tenacious courtroom advocates is well-earned. She has blazed new and innovative legal trails in the area of strip searches, drunk driving, drug search and seizures, and more.

Our partners are well known as some of the brightest minds in the Toronto legal community.

The wealth of knowledge and experience possessed by our partners is freely shared with all of the criminal lawyers at ABPS. Our associates and law students are hired on the basis of their superior academic performance, unmatched analytical skills, courtroom charisma, and strong commitment to justice. We firmly believe in helping our staff lawyers to become the next generation of Toronto criminal lawyers.

Our criminal lawyers are well-known and recognized at courthouses all over the GTA (Greater Toronto Area), particularly in Brampton & Mississauga. Since 1975 they have been cultivating strong working relationships with crown attorneys and judges at every level of court. When you hire Adler Bytensky Prutschi Shikhman, you can rest assured that the crown attorney prosecuting your case and the judge deciding it recognize and respect your lawyer’s professionalism and experience.